Together, we remember. Together, we will never forget”

— The American Jewish Committee, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 2020.

About the MWL The Muslim World League is a non-governmental international organization based in Makkah. Its goal is to clarify the true message of . Crown Prince Faisal, the third son of King Abdulaziz Al Saud, founded the Muslim World League during the meeting of the general Islamic Conference on May 18, 1962, in order to fulfill his dream for an Islamic . The establishment of the MWL continued the vision of the Crown Prince to enlighten and educate the international Muslim community, which began with the founding of the Islamic University of Madinah in 1961. The Muslim World League has grown into a worldwide charity to which the Saudi Royal Family remain active donors. Ascending to the throne as King Faisal in November 1964, the Saudi leader remained steadfast in his faith, proclaiming: “I beg of you, brothers, to look upon me as both brother and servant. ‘Majesty’ is reserved to God alone and ‘the throne’ is the throne of the Heavens and Earth.” Contents VOLUME 54 | ISSUE 1

1. Month in Review Key Events for the Muslim World League from December 2019 through January 2020. . . . 4

2. Letter from the Editor Never Again...... 8

3. Editorial Leaders The Muslim World, the Jewish Faith and the Global Community ...... 12 , Historic Ties, and Unknown History: The Story of Diarna ...... 15 Leading By Example: The Case of Acre ...... 19

4. Feature Essays A Joint Venture in the Making of History: Behind the Scenes of the Historic MWL and AJC Trip to Auschwitz...... 21 The Tatarska Mosque of Poland...... 28

5. Historical Essay The Interfaith Imperative: Intersection and Interaction...... 33

6. Cultural Essays Dialogues of Beauty & The Power of Art: The Barenboim Said Foundation...... 35 Greater Understanding for the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding...... 37 Rabbi Marc Schneier: Op-ed (Excerpts): “How Auschwitz Unified and Jews”. . . . 38

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 3 MWL in December and January

We should act together to make just peace a reality for all religions, countries, people, civilizations and cultures”

— H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, addressing the Kabbalat Shabbat, Nozyk , Poland, January 24, 2020.

A wall of photos commemorates victims of the Holocaust at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

January was a highly active month for the Muslim World during the genocidal campaign of the holocaust, a League. His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammad bin barbarity officially denounced by the Secretary-General in Abdulkarim Al-Issa met with Muslim scholars to discuss January 2019. As with all international engagements by the Charter of Makkah, led a senior delegation to Italy and Dr. Al-Issa, his participation in and fight for consistent in- made an historic trip to Poland, the latter on the occa- terfaith dialogue for the purpose of universal tolerance and sion of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the death peace is rooted in a belief in the future that is informed by camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. At that camp more than the lessons of the past. 1 million prisoners, a majority of them Jewish, perished

4 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 2019 This year’s theme focused on DECEMBER 9 the intellectual responsibility The Muslim World League of scholars to make sure that honored “International Day of religious texts and academic Commemoration and Dignity interpretations of those texts are of the Victims of the Crime of not manipulated for the sake of and of the Prevention promoting extremism. “Some do of this Crime,” sponsored by the not realize the seriousness of neg- since 2015. The ative perceptions against Islam December 9 occasion is a global and therefore they do not inter- event instituted by that UN to fere in correcting them,” said Dr. commemorate victims of geno- Al-Issa of this profound problem cide and highlighting humanity’s of ‘perception’ at the basis of all responsibility to prevent future prejudice. . On the occasion, His

As an Evangelical and an Israeli citizen, His Excellency Dr. Al-Issa welcomes Muslim I’m very encouraged that my friend, scholars ot the Charter of Makkah Conference in January 2020.

Saudi Sheikh Mohammed al-Issa — Leading Muslim scholars arrive at the Charter of Makkah Conference hosted by the Muslim World head of the Muslim World League League in January 2020. — will visit the Auschwitz Museum in the solutions, but together we just Poland...This is an historic moment of might. faith ” 2020 JANUARY 7 — Author, scholar and interfaith activist Joel C. Rosenberg This week, the Muslim World League Supreme Council began Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammad DECEMBER 20 its annual meeting in Makkah. bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, Secretary Under United Nations auspices, Muslim scholars from around the General of the Muslim World today celebrated “International world attended the conference to League, reiterated his timeless Human Solidarity Day,” intended discuss the Charter signed last message: To defeat hate, we must to honor the common core values May and other efforts to promote speak and listen ot one another, of all peoples the world over, re- peace, tolerance and cultural har- learn from one another and strive gardless of nation, ethnicity, race, mony, with the Supreme Council for unity.” religion and economic differenc- itself organized to emphasize es. As Dr. Al-Issa stated earlier in “cooperation, coexistence and DECEMBER 9-12 2019 at the Responsible Leaders love among all peoples through H.E. Sheikh Dr. Al-Issa was hon- Summit held at the UN Secretariat observance of Charter principles.” ored at the sixth annual ‘Forum in New York: “It is going to take These Council meetings, intended for the Promotion of Peace leadership at all levels to change to maintain a diligent observation Among Muslims’ in Abu Dhabi. the world. No one of us has all of the Charter’s implementation

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 5 worldwide, are summed up by the and Hebrew. MWL’s belief that “dialogue is the It is a sign that most effective tool for building JANUARY 24 respectful & harmonious relation- H.E. Dr. Al-Issa and Muslim digni- maybe religions are ships with others”. taries began the day with a visit to the Polin Museum of the History not that different and JANUARY 15-17 of the Jews in Warsaw. They later Starting off the week, H.E. Dr. Al-Is- visited the Nożyk Synagogue in instead of dividing sa visited the Università Cattolica the Polish capital, greeted upon people, they should in Milan for a meeting on inter- their arrival by Chief Rabbi Mi- faith dialogue. Later in the week, chael Schudrich and other Jewish unite people.” the Secretary General visited the leaders this afternoon to attend historic Ambrosian Library, Milan. Kabbalat Shabbat services at the — Students at the Università founded by the great humanist synagogue, the only surviving and scholar Cardinal Federico in pre-WWII Jewish place of wor- Cattolica, Milan, upon the closing 1609. The Cardinal dedicated the ship in the Polish capital. In his of an address given there by H.E. space to multicultural learning, address there, Dr. Al-Issa stated: Dr. Al-Issa with an emphasis on dialogue and “We should act together to make learning from other cultures and just peace a reality for all religions, faiths. countries, people, civilizations, and cultures.” JANUARY 23 “History in the making,” in the While at Nożyk, Dr. Al-Issa was words of the American Jewish presented with a gift by the AJC in Committee (AJC). H.E. Dr. Al-Issa appreciation of his efforts to pro- becomes the most senior Islamic mote interfaith solidarity, under- figure to date to visit the memorial standing and harmonious co-exis- at Auschwitz, which during World tence. To commemorate Al-Issa’s War II was the site of what is forward-looking leadership, AJC commonly regarded as the worst President Harriet Schleifer industrial genocide campaign history.

A delegation of 62 representa- tives, including 25 prominent religious leaders, from 28 coun- tries lead by Dr. Al-Issa, together with the Global Delegation of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), visited the site to mark 75 years since liberation of that German Nazi-led camp, officially

Dr. Al-Issa visits with the Catholic University of the commemorated on January 27. Sacred Heart leadership in Milan before giving a Dr. Al-Issa lit a candle at the Wall lecture for students and faculty on the importance of Executions in memory of all of interreligious dialogue. those killed there, a number esti- Dr. Al-Issa attends Kabbalat Shabbat Services at the Dr. Al-Issa views some of the oldest manuscripts mated in the thousands. The two Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw, sharing a powerful on display at the Ambrosian Library in Milan. delegations led prayer services in message of interfaith understanding.

6 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE

We are different, but we love one another. We are different, but we live alongside one another. We are different, but we understand one anohter. We are different, but we forgive one another.”

— His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa presented, during an interfaith Mosque in Warsaw. Dr. Al-Issa ad- program at the Nożyk Synagogue, dressed both Muslim and Jewish an artwork with the injunction “to attendees at the Friday services, remember” in Hebrew, Arabic, and stating, as quoted by Al-Arabiya: English. “We’ve come here as a high-level Islamic delegation comprising Later, the two delegations shared of senior Muslim scholars from a Shabbat meal together. The 100 different sects to say these words attendees at the Shabbat dinner, and through tangible actions – held at the Royal Palace, brought not just through talk nor negative together leading Polish govern- reservation, but through all of our ment and parliamentary officials, attendance – this is our religion’s including the Speaker of the stance toward that crime.” Senate, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Secretary of State in the Office JANUARY 27 of the President of the Republic, as Officially, ‘Holocaust Remem- well as leading Christian clergy, brance Day’, honoring the 75 Dr. Al-Issa and David Harris tour the POLIN Musuem of the History of Polish Jews on their visit to Warsaw. among them the Primate of Po- years since prisoners were land, ambassadors to Poland from liberated from Nazi concentration At the POLIN Musuem, visitors get a sense of what Australia, Canada, and , camp Auschwitz. As the Muslim the streets of Warsaw would have looked like during World War II. top representatives of the Polish World League commented on the

Jewish community, “and other day: “After 1,689 days & 1 million+ Dr. Al-Issa lights a candle in memory of the victims friends of AJC,” according to the dead, the murder & pain came to of the Holocaust at the International Monument at website of that organization. an end.” Aucchwitz II-Berkinau.

JANUARY 24 JANUARY 28 H.E. Dr. Al-Issa and the Grand David Harris, CEO of the Ameri- from very different backgrounds.... Mufti of Poland, Ahmed Tomasz can Jewish Committee (AJC), and We have come together, believing Miśkiewicz, addressed worship- Dr. Al-Issa co-author and publish that the world desperately needs pers and delegates from the an op-ed in The ChicagoTribune, greater interfaith understanding American Jewish Committee “Auschwitz Has United Muslims and cooperation.” (AJC) during a visit to Tatarska St. and Jews.” They write: “We come

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 7 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dr. Al-Issa lights a candle at the Wall of Executions. ‘NEVER AGAIN’

Editorial Staff of the Journal of the Muslim World League

The ‘Wall of Execution’ that dominates the melan- choly site that is today the Auschwitz Musuem is located in the yard on the side of “Block II,” where, As Muslim and as Jew, we during the German Nazi occupation of Poland, the first gassings took place. At the Wall, the con- remember them. And we demned were lined up against the notorious wall and shot, one after the other. It was all part of the honor their memories by abhorrently systematic nature of industrial geno- cide that defined the darkest days of World War II. bearing witness, linking arms Several thousand men and women were killed at and saying, ‘Never again.’” the Wall–this included Polish political prisoners who were members of resistance movements, Russian prisoners-of-war, and, as is perhaps best known, — David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Jewish prisoners. The Wall was dismantled in 1944 Committee, and H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad though the larger camp was still in existence. This bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, in a joint op-ed, “How did not mean the end of summary executions, how- Auschwitz Has United Muslims and Jews,” The ever, and torture was carried out there as well. Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2020. It was before this heartbreaking symbol of one of the greatest genocides in human history that H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa took

8 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE candle in hand, and lived a moment of eternity within vors accompanying him. “I can say in the name of all a chapter of history that has never receded to the Muslim visitors: We are deeply affected by that which past. He was part of a joint delegation alongside the we’ve seen, by this terrible crime, this crime against American Jewish Committee (AJC). At the Wall, the humanity,” Dr. Al-Issa said of the visit. “It is the great two delegations led Muslim and Jewish prayers alter- responsibility of the global community to ensure that nately, each group participating in the solemn silence this never happens again.” of the other. The event, as the President of the Con- gress of Christian Leaders noted on social media, was “seismic.” For, the presence of Dr. Al-Issa signified the highest-ranking senior Muslim and Muslim delegation ever to visit the site of these extermination camps.

I can say in the name of all Muslim visitors: We are deeply affected by that which we’ve seen, by this terrible crime, this crime against humanity. It

“History in the Making”: Dr. Al-Issa begins his visit, accompanied by is the great responsibility Muslim leaders from around the world and AJC leadership. of the global community to ensure that this never As reported by the Times of , the group was happens again.” shown the gruesome evidence of the horrors the Nazis inflicted on the camps’ prisoners, which includ- — Dr. Mohammad Alissa, January 23, 2020 ed “some 1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma, 14,000 Soviets and around 15,000 others, such as Je- hovahs Witness and homosexuals,” according to the Auschwitz Memorial Museum. “The trip culminated in The joint mission to Poland is a key element of the a memorial service between the former gas chambers Memorandum of Understanding between AJC and and crematorium, at which both Jewish and Muslim MWL, which was signed by Dr. Al-Issa and David prayers were offered on behalf of the Holocaust vic- Harris, head of the AJC at the latter’s headquarters tims,” the Times noted. in New York, on April 30, 2019. As part of this historic interfaith mission the senior leadership of the AJC The Muslim World League, in keeping with its own participated, including Rabbi David Rosen, head of the single-minded mission, sees as its responsibility to AJC’s Department of Interreligious Affairs, and AJC turn that moment into a timeless guideline for the President Harriet Schleifer. Later, Polish President future if world peace really has a substantial chance Andrej Duda visited the camp with Holocaust survi- at overcoming endless cycles of societal and nation-

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 9 month’s landmark Muslim-Jewish interfaith testimoni- al of the Auschwitz camps, and the authentic bonding Our presence at Auschwitz of hearts, minds and shared historical experience resulting from the visit, underscores this commitment was as much about the perhaps more strongly than any of the MWL’s achieve- present as the past” ments to date. Dr. Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute of Near — David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish East Policy, in comparing the visit of Dr. Al-Issa to the Committee, and H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Secretary General’s tour of the Holocaust Museum in bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, in a joint op-ed, “How Washington DC in May 2018 and the MWL’s condem- Auschwitz Has United Muslims and Jews,” nation of in January 2018, summed it up best: “In January [2018], he talked the talk on rec- Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2020. ognizing the calamity and enormity of the Holocaust; today[January 2020] he walked the walk.” It may be said that Dr. Al-Issa has taken that “walk” by several al violence. Neither the ‘burdens of history’ nor the leaps and bounds to a new standard of Muslim-Jew- anxieties of the future can deter the organization from ish relations. that purpose, however massive the challenge. This

In May 2018, Dr. Al-Issa visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. with Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Insti- tute of Near East Policy on Dr. Al-Issa: “Yesterday, he talked the talk; today he walks the walk”

10 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE It is in the spirit of this epoch-making interfaith event, contribution to our ultimate goals. These features and in honor of the 75th anniversary of the liberation serve to reinforce the idea that tolerance must be of the camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau “1,689 days and exhibited in every area of life—from religious com- 1 million-plus dead later,” to which this issue of The monalities, to lesser-known but key political-cultural Journal of the Muslim World League is dedicated. relationships between the major faiths, to commercial That said, no matter how positive the inspired mood relations; to culture and art. Employing the theme of a particular historic event —the commemorations, of Muslim-Jewish relations, this issue offers some the recognition and honors— the MWL is aware that great stories that highlight examples of outstanding the fight for interfaith tolerance is a daily calling and cooperation between the two sides—often in the most a constant behind-the-scenes struggle. The MWL- “unexpected” ways. AJC delegation to Auschwitz is, to date, but the most high-profile expression of the shared values between It is our hope you will enjoy this issue; all the signifi- our organizations. Both our groups recognize that cance of the key event it celebrates and the message to ensure the viability and generational continuity of for the future it communicates. What may take twen- interfaith tolerance much work still needs to be done. ty years in the making can, within one moment—one symbol, one Muslim leader, one candle in hand, one Thus, this issue also features a diversity of stories per- monumental human tragedy of mainly Jewish vic- haps more mundane than this month’s historic mis- tims—result in what will no doubt become a universal sion to Poland, but no less significant in their collective memory to last an eternity. In a word, ‘Never Again.’

Auschwitz I & II – A Brief History

The first inmates, German criminals brought to the At least 802 prisoners tried to escape, 144 success- camp in May 1940 as functionaries, established the fully, and on 7 October 1944 two Sonderkommando camp’s reputation for violence. “Prisoners were beat- (Special Command) units, consisting of prisoners who en, tortured, and executed for the most trivial reasons,” staffed the gas chambers, launched an unsuccessful as Wikipedia comments.. The first gassings—of Soviet uprising. “Only 789 staff (about 15 percent) ever stood and Polish prisoners—took place in Block 11 of Aus- trial; several, including camp commandant Rudolf chwitz I in August 1941. Construction of Auschwitz II Höss, were executed. The Allies’ failure to act on early began the following month, and from 1942 until late reports of atrocities in the camp by bombing it or its 1944 freight trains delivered Jews from all over Ger- railways remains controversial.” man-occupied Europe. As the Soviet Red Army approached Auschwitz in Of the 1.3 million people sent to Auschwitz, 1.1 million January 1945, toward the end of the war, the Nazi SS died. The death toll includes 960,000 Jews (865,000 (‘Schutzstaffel’--a senior paramilitary organization of of whom were gassed on arrival), 74,000 non-Jewish the Nazi party) sent most of the camp’s population Poles, 21,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, west on a “death march” to camps inside Germany and up to 15,000 other Europeans. Those not gassed and . The Russian troops entered the camp died of starvation, exhaustion, disease, individual exe- on January 27, 1945, a day commemorated since cutions, or beatings. Others were killed during medical 2005 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. experiments. The scholar Raul Hillberg analyzed these In 1947 Poland founded the Auschwitz-Birkenau State numbers in his 1961 book, The Destruction of the Museum on the site of Auschwitz I and II, and in 1979 European Jews. it was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 11 EDITORIAL LEADER The Muslim World, the Jewish Faith and the Global Community

Editorial Staff of the Journal of the Muslim World League

In August 1964, Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical “Ec- clesiam Suam,” exhorted the Catholic Church to be in constant dialogue with the outside world—with humanity in general, between the Church and the As conflicts raged across non-Christian religions, with what he called “separat- ed brethren,”and within the Church. The Church itself the Middle East - from Iraq would converse across all these spheres “in the spirit of love and obedience.” to Israel - issues affecting That was nearly sixty years ago, and we are still Muslim and Jewish fighting to establish a lasting, respectful and pro- ductive dialogue among faiths, within faiths and communities were ablaze. between faiths and the secular world. But there was MJC. Still “In the lurid context of mass atrocities, there are no scheduled, still receiving panaceas or elixirs,” wrote scholar Peter Admirand of Dublin University in Ireland in a 2016 article “Dialogue applications, and still in the Face of a Gun? Interfaith Dialogue and Limit- ing Mass Atrocities.” He continued: “Amidst grisly striving to repair the world accounts of suffering and torture, senseless pain and inhumanity; and the ascendency of brutality over that had become ignited love, compassion and dialogue, supposedly all-en- with hatred” compassing solutions falter.” There are many possible reasons for these fail- — Conference participant Ben Kasten, in an ures—a strain on domestic resources, volatile polit- August 30, 2014, article entitled “The 2014 ical developments, historical resentments and the Muslim Jewish Conference: An Ambitious, clash of traditionalism and modernism. Anti-Sem- Daring, Unforgettable Week” for the UK itism, Islamophobia and racism certainly are not phenomena of the past, but undeniable present-day edition of The Huffington Post. realities despite all that civilized society should have learned from history by now.

12 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE Against this difficult backdrop, the Muslim and still striving to repair the world that had Jewish Conference, founded in in 2010, become ignited with hatred.” has had a tangible impact on the future leaders Approximately 60 Jewish and Muslim students of the Muslim and Jewish communities (MJC) from all over the world gather with the stated worldwide in the effort to confront historic common goal of establishing peaceful relations cycles of vengeance and violence, the preju- between both religions by way of intense “discus- dices that foster them, and the ignorance that sion committees,” guest speakers, open dialogue sustains them. panels and social events. The results have not been merely those of feel-good talk-shop en- lightenment: the participants have been notable leaders in politics, academia and the business I commend the dedication of all those responsible for the achievements of the Muslim Jewish Conference and wish you Godspeed in all the important work that remains to be done”

— former U.S. President , in a letter to the MCJ, of June 2013. The former president has sent a letter to the Conference every year since its inception.

“The conference followed intense threats to religious freedom, such as the recent ban on religious slaughter in Denmark as well as the far-right’s shameful resurgence across the Euro- pean Union. Communities were grieving over murderous attacks at Jewish and Muslim insti- tutions, they were reeling over the and Islamic cultural centres torched, and they were sickened by the desecration of their reli- gious cemeteries. Social media was again used to launch anonymous attacks and hate speech. As conflicts raged across the Middle East - from Iraq to Israel - issues affecting Muslim and Jew- ish communities were ablaze. But there was The library at the University of Vienna. MJC. Still scheduled, still receiving applications, Source: University of Vienna

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 13 world and has earned the praise of no less than the Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, the leading scholar- ly Islamic authority in the world. I have the utmost “In contrast to imposing simple skills for intercul- tural communication, the MJC patiently contrib- respect for the Muslim utes to long-term change and mutual appreciation by cultivating a new way of thinking about each participants and other,”remarked former President Bill Clinton, a young leaders who long-time advisor to the organization. One of the main attractions of the Conference has been its are sometimes risking decade-long duration, which lends its mission the credibility to sustain Muslim-Jewish partnership everything, and go back beyond academic elites . Adding to this credibility is the fact that the MJC and effect change in the boasts a prestigious board of directors, includ- ing Rabbi David Rosen, who participated in the areas where they can,” historic MWL-AJC visit to Auschwitz this month, — MJC co-founder Ilja Sichrovsky, whose and who is Knight Commander of the Order of Gregory the Great in recognition of his contribu- father is Jewish. tion to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation; Dr. Mustafa Cerich, the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the co recipient of the UNESCO Peace Prize ton administration, and Ambassador Jacob Finci, and the recipient of the International Council of a founder of the Central European humanitarian Christians and Jews Annual Sternberg Award and organization La Benevolencija. Dr. Frank-Walter is on the advisory council of the Tony Blair Faith Steinmeir, President of Germany, and participant Foundation; Andrey Azoulay, Counselor to His in the Auschwitz commemoration with the MWL Majesty the King of Morocco and President of the and AJC this month, has been a long-time advisor. Executive Committee of the Foundation for the Three Cultures and the Three Religions, based in “I have the utmost respect for the Muslim par- Seville; Sally Painter, a Senior Advisor in the Clin- ticipants and young leaders who are sometimes risking everything, and go back and effect change in the areas where they can,” commented MJC co-founder Ilja Sichrovsky, whose father is Jewish. He was quoted in the online newspaper The JC in Interfaith dialogue is not an August 2015 article, “Muslims Risking Lives to Meet Jews at Annual Muslim Jewish Coference” just a model of negotiation. about the Conference then being held in that year. “They go home and talk about the Holo- It is a practice of mutual caust and . They may turn out to be empowerment for people of all diplomats, artists, community activists,” he wrote. faiths involved”

— The United States Embassy in Germany, commenting on the MJC Conference, 2015, Berlin

14 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE EDITORIAL LEADER

Dr. Al-Issa meets with Jewish and Muslim leaders in Copenhagen.

The Holocaust, Historic Ties and Unknown History: The Diarna

Editorial Staff of the Journal of the Muslim World League

All cultures and societies have sacred sites and these sacred sites are related to concepts of who we are, where we came from and where we are going.”

—Richard Leventhal, Director of the Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 15 NOTABLE VIRTUAL EXHIBITS BY THE DIARNA FOUNDATION

2019: “Exploring Jewish Sites in Urmia, Iran”

2018: “Jewish Treasures of Southern Mo- rocco”

2018: A shrine at the Ourzazate Commentary is featured as a part of “A Virtual Pilgrimage to Morocco’s Diarna’s exhibit on Jewish Treasures of Southern Morocco.

Jewish Saints” Recent years have seen greatly increased attempts to manipulate holocaust history and memory. For several decades much attention has been paid to Holocaust 2018: denial, what Jewish scholars call “the assault on Holocaust memory.” That is why when Dr. Moham- “The Synagogues of Cairo and Alex- mad Al-Issa formally denounced Holocaust denial in January 2018 and then visited the Holocaust Museum andria, Egypt” in Washington the following May, the MWL took an im- portant step forward in Muslim-Jewish relations and unequivocally rejected anti-Semitism aomng Muslims 2017: and non-Muslims alike. The interfaith delegation of the MWL and the American Jewish Committee (AJC) “The Jews of Algeria” this month represents the spiritual apotheosis of such excellent progress.

2016: Muslims and Jews relations share a “hidden” history of aid, assistance and compassion during the Holo- “Yom Hashoah: World War II Sites in caust as seen in the example of Muslims who offered such help to their threatened Jewish neighbors. One the Middle East and North Africa” organization, Diarna, has committed to educate the public on the history of Muslim-Jewish cooperation and engagement in anti-Nazi resistance during World War II. In 2008, New York-based activist, author and

16 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE scholar Jason Guberman began a project to map states: “The Geo-Museum of North African and and collect photographs of synagogues, Jewish Middle Eastern Jewish Life [a subset organization] shrines and cemeteries throughout the Middle East is working to digitally preserve the physical rem- to create for posterity “a digital museum of the physi- nants of Jewish history throughout the region. We cal remnants of these ancient, and almost entirely are in a race against time to capture site data and defunct, communities.” Diarna (www.diarna.org), record place-based oral histories before even the whose name means “our home” in Judeo-Arabic, memories of these communities are lost.” Diarna was the result. was among the pioneers in the synthesis of dig- ital mapping technology, traditional scholarship The organization has been able to take advantage and field research, resulting in a treasure trove of of the recent upheavals in the region to expand its multimedia documentation. All of this combines reach “even as Islamic State and other groups have to lend a virtual presence “and guarantee untram- been destroying what little remains.” meled access to Jewish historical sites lest they be forgotten or erased.” This group has been expanding the limits in the study of Jewish heritage and has brought to light the The Holocaust was primarily, but not exclusively, complexity and closeness of the Muslim and Jewish a European event. During World War II, labor and relationship in episodic contexts during that brutal internment camps were built in North Africa, and period. It has done this through virtual tours of Jews were deported out of major cities and even Jewish history, art and architecture in Muslim lands, transported to Europe, where many eventually but with a primary emphasis on Holcoaust period. met their death at the hands of the Nazis. Diarna Diarna has documented how Muslims engaged with maps show some of the different Holocaust sites. Jews and helped them seek refuge from persecution by careful research and preservation of forgotten In another example: During the Holocaust, Jewish culture across the Middle East and northern France’s Vichy regime established a series of Africa. In one example, the organization’s website forced labor and “discipline” camps in the region’s far eastern flank where hundreds of Jewish and non-Jewish political prisoners toiled and died in the desert. These sites are similarly lost to public memory, but thanks to Diarna’s dedication to investigating this history, the Vichy episode has re-emerged as an important reminder of North Af- rica’s Holocaust history, and in recent years begun to attract scholarly interest.

The influence of the organization’s work has been rather impressive: For example, today in Morocco, there is a Holocaust curriculum where up until 2011 there had been no mention of the Holocaust in Moroccan schools. In a further effort to edu- cate others on the relationship between the two communities, Diarna recently organized the ex- hibit, “The Common Ground Between Us: Jewish and Muslim Communities in Morocco, Egypt and Iraqi-Kurdistan,” designed for the public “to get an

“From Casablanca to New York: A Celebration of Moroccan-Jew- artistic look into the relationship between Jewish ish Partnership” was organized by the Diarna Foundation in and Muslim communities” and the influence Mus- January 2017. lims had on Jewish survival and protection. Source: Diarna Foundation

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 17 THE GREAT MOSQUE OF and everyday habits as the , and Mus- lim and Jewish names were often similar. The PARIS AND THE RESCUE OF mosque, a tiled, walled fortress-like structure the size of a city block on the Left Bank, was an oasis JEWS DURING THE GERMAN of calm where visitors were fed and clothed and could bathe, and where they could talk freely and OCCUPATION OF PARIS rest in the garden. It was also a place of refuge and rescue. In his 2006 book, Among the Righ- teous, Robert Satloff, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, uncovered stories of Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust, and included a chapter on the Grand Mosque.

Dalil Boubakeur, the current rector, confirmed to him that some Jews — up to 100 perhaps — were given Muslim identity papers by the mosque. Mr. Boubakeur said individual Muslims brought Jews they knew to the mosque for help, and the chief imam, not Benghabrit, was the man directly responsible for helping them.

In one uncorroborated account, Albert Assouline, a North African Jewish man who escaped from a German prison camp, describes how more than 1,700 resistance fighters — including Jews but Gardens of the Great Mosque of Paris also a lesser number of Muslims and Christians Source: Marc Cooper — found refuge in the mosque’s underground caverns, and that the rector provided many Jews Though explored in the September 2019 issue with certificates of Muslim identity. of the Journal, it is a story that will always bear repeating: that of the beautiful Grand Mosque of The Bâtisseuses de Paix (“Women Builders of Paris playing the role of savior of Jewish individu- Peace”) an association of Jewish and Muslim als during the German occupation of France. women working for inter-community harmony, submitted a petition in 2005 to Vashem If this seems like the stuff of movies, that is exact- Council (the international Holocaust memorial ly what it became. Just over four years ago, the foundation) to recognize that the Mosque of French film Les Hommes Libres (Free Men) told Paris saved many Jews between 1942 and 1944, the story of how the founder and leader of the and that Yad Vashem should thus recognize Si mosque, Si Kaddour Benghabrit, the head of the Kaddour Benghabrit as one of the so-called “Righ- Grand Mosque, provided refuge and certificates teous Among the Nations,” an honor awarded by of Muslim identity to a small number of Jews to the State of Israel to non-Jews for acts of great allow them to evade arrest and . humanitarian charity to Jews. At this time, the request remains unfulfilled, as there is difficulty A review of the film in The New York Times re- identifying survivors given that the mosque had counted that France was home to a large popula- worked with false passports. For his contribu- tion of North Africans in the early 1940s, including tions, M.Benghabrit was awarded the Grand Cross thousands of Sephardic Jews. The Jews spoke of the Legion d’Honneur. He is buried in a reserved Arabic and shared many of the same traditions area to the north of the Mosque of Paris.

18 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE EDITORIAL LEADER Acre and Triumph of Coexistence

No religion calls for hate. It is people who call for hatred.”

—Imam Sheikh Samir Assi, Imam of the El-Jazzar mosque in Acre, to The Post, November 22, 2018

The port of the old city Acre and El Bachar Mosque.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 19 The historic city of Acre (also known as Akko) is their views candidly to the Israeli media when part of the West Galilee municipality in Israel and asked about their coexistence, insisting that their is famous for Crusader-Muslim showdowns and religious and political views do not get in the way Napoleon’s failed attempt to take its port from of friendships and partnerships. “The key to their the Ottoman Turks. In 2001, the United Nations harmonious coexistence seems to be focusing on Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization working on creative projects rather than on ‘The (UNESCO), also fell captive to the charms of the Situation,’ as they call it,” in the words of a 2018 city and named Acre’s Old City a World Heritage Jerusalem Post article on Acre.

All accepted that at age eighteen military ser- vice would be mandatory, although several Arab All cultures and societies youths, both male and female, said they would “probably do some kind of civilian national have sacred sites and service instead.” Meanwhile, long-time Mayor Shimon Lankri, Chief Rabbi of Acre Yosef Yashar these sacred sites are and Imam Sheikh Samir Assi of the El-Jazzar mosque have repeatedly made public statements related to concepts of stressing the importance of mutual respect and dialogue. Rabbi Lankri told Israeli media that he who we are, where we objected to the so-called “Muezzin Law,” a failed came from and where we piece of legislation that would have imposed pun- ishment for any broadcast by a muezzin over a are going.” public address system, saying there was no need for legislation and he saw no problem with the sound of the Muslim call to prayer. —Richard Leventhal, Director of the Cultural Heritage Center at the University In addition, creative entrepreneurs are realizing how this mixed Jewish-Arab city offers a model of of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. coexistence. As one Israeli real estate developer, Meir Davidson, remarked in another Jerusalem Site. To many Israelis, Acre is an apt symbol of Post article on the city: “The encounter people the country’s tumultuous development. It is a city have with Arabs via the media is violent and that has been shaped by the Romans, Ottomans, difficult, but whoever can be open, and see that Crusaders, Mamelukes, Byzantines and Brit- they are good people and great neighbors and ish, and, fittingly, is today home to a population people with good hearts, will come here and try.” of Jews, Christians and Muslims who coexist He is among the few Jews who live in the Old City, brilliantly. The aura of ancient history persists as where most of the residents are Muslim Arabs. the Old City is home to one of the oldest ports “Working with the community is very important to in the world. A proudly mixed city, Acre’s Jewish us--Jews, Muslims, everyone,” he said. residents make up about 70% of the population of 50,000, and Arab Muslim residents most of the remaining 30%.

Though its loveliness might lie in its historic quar- ters and Crusader fortresses, its modern allure is the town’s atmosphere of tolerance between Jews and Muslims, a local sentiment that starts at a young age. Teens from both groups express

20 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE EDITORIAL FEATURE

A member of the interfaith delegation reflects on the visit at the International Monument at Auschwitz.

A Joint Venture in the Making of History: Behind the Scenes of the Historic MWL and AJC Trip to Auschwitz

rial site at Auschwitz. Harris, at 70 years old, is a longtime advocate for Jewish communities and For the dead and the living, we the son of . When Dr. Al-Issa and Mr. Harris arrived together, Deutsche Welle must bear witness,” described the scene as “nothing short of remark- able.” — Elie Weisel, Holocaust survior, Nobel laureate First, the group spent more than a half hour in an exhibit titled “Proof of the Crimes,” and then the delegation walked through the grounds of Birke- Dr. Al-Issa led the delegates hand-in-hand with nau. Ari Gordon, responsible for Jewish-Muslim AJC Director David Harris as they approached the dialogue at the AJC gave the opening remarks. foreboding sign that greets the visitor: –”Work Like most with the U.S. delegation, he is a de- Makes You Free,”—at the entrance of the memo- scendent of Holocaust survivors. “Switching

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 21

To be here among the children of Holocaust survivors and members of the Jewish and Islamic communities is both a sacred duty and a profound honor.”

— Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa

between English, Hebrew and Arabic,” the German broadcaster noted on the occasion, “Gordon read quotes from both the Torah and the Koran, speak- ing of suffering and hope, while two delegates remembered relatives.” The nearly two dozen Muslim representatives hailed from Indonesia and the U.S., the Balkans, Scandinavia and the Arab world. In the icy gray of a late winter Central European day, participants lit candles and placed them at the base of the me- morial site before leading one another in prayers. Rabbi David Rosen recited Psalm 23 and said the Kaddish, a sanctification of God’s name. Spon- taneously, various attendants laid prayer mats on the cold ground of the memorial for Muslim attendees, who oriented themselves towards Makkah and fell to their knees in somber prayer. The melancholic dignity of the afternoon was detailed at length by Deutsche Welle in a January 24 article whose title summed up the spirit of the occasion: “Muslim and Jewish Leaders Stand Together in Solidarity at Auschwitz.”

According to the director of the memorial site, Piotr Cywiński, more than 2.3 million people visited in 2019, with “only a handful of people Dr. Al-Issa leads the interfaith delegation at Auschwitz. from Arab world.” Last year, the museum’s ticket Dr. Al-Issa and the AJC’s David Harris address delegates in a speech, reservation system registered some 3,200 guests calling the Holocaust a crime against humanity. from Arab-majority countries (though visitors’ Source: AJC religious affiliations are not recorded). Cywinski Dr. Al-Issa and delegates listent to reflections on the historical visit to said the site also receives Muslims among groups Auschwitz. of French, Norwegian, German and other visitors.

22 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE He is “certain that for all of them, coming to an dent of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, authentically preserved site of a former camp is Rabbi Marc Schneier, penned an opinion piece in an important personal and universal experience.” supporting Dr. Al-Issa, stating that there exists “a false narrative out there that About two years prior to this visit, Dr. Al-Issa sent Muslims are inveterately hostile to Jews.” Rabbi a letter to the United States Holocaust Memorial Schneier, who has worked to foster Judeo-Muslim Museum in Washington, in which he expressed dialogue and understanding, continued to say that “great sympathy with the victims of the Holocaust, “Muslims are speaking out — and acting out — ev- an incident that shook humanity to the core.” ery day in defense of Jews who are under attack.” He underlined that “true Islam is against these crimes” and that “we consider any denial of the The joint mission to Poland became a key el- Holocaust or minimizing of its effect a crime to ement of the Memorandum of Understanding distort history and an insult to the dignity of those between AJC and MWL, which was signed by Dr. innocent souls who have perished.” It was upon Al-Issa and David Harris, head of the AJC at the this visit to the museum in May 2018 that Dr. latter’s headquarters in New York, on April 30, Al-Issa was moved to write an op-ed about the experience for The Washington Post: “I saw for myself the mountains of evidence — the videos, the photos, the placards, the interviews, the mem- orabilia — that testify to the historic truth of the Holocaust. One doesn’t have to go to the museum to recognize the enormity of the Holocaust — but no one who does come to the museum can deny it,” the Secretary-General wrote. The process then began to snowball. The presi-

On Jan. 23, we stood together in the face of history’s greatest horror, the Holocaust, at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp where more than 1 million Jews perished. Never again. Not for any of God’s children.”

— David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, and H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, in a joint op-ed, “How Auschwitz Has United Muslims and Jews.” Dr. Al-Issa gives remarks at Kabbalat Shabbat Services at the Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2020 Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 23 Dr. Al-Issa signs the visitors book at the POLIN Museum.

2019. “Our twenty-first century challenge at AJC is to write a new chapter between the Muslim Delegates stayed a and Jewish peoples,” said Harris at the Auschwitz Memorial. “There are those who want to keep full two hours longer us divided. We will not let them win. It’s about than originally planned, nothing less than defining the future of the world in which we want to live.” before continuing their In the resulting triumph of this dramatic interfaith long journey together effort, AJC President Harriet Schleifer present- ed Dr. Al-Issa, an artwork with the injunction “to to the Polish capital remember” in Hebrew, Arabic and English during an interfaith program at the Nozyk Synagogue. where mutual visits to a “We pray that your visit to Auschwitz will be a clarion call to action for Muslims and all humanity mosque and synagogue to learn the hard lessons of history — that hatred and demonization of a people nearly led to their were planned...” total destruction,” said Ms. Schleifer. “We must never allow it to happen again to anyone.”

— Deutsche Welle, “Muslim and Jewish Leaders Aiman Mazyek, the chairman of the Central Stand Together in Solidarity at Auschwitz,” January Council of Muslims in Germany, who has made 24, 2020

24 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE numerous trips to the Auschwitz memorial site OP-ED EXCERPTS: “HOW with groups of young Muslims and Jews, wel- comed Dr.Al-Issa’s move, saying the visit carries AUSCHWITZ HAS UNITED both political as well as religious significance. The influential Mazyek further believes that “ it could MUSLIMS AND JEWS,” also have a lasting impact on the societies of David Harris and Mohammad Al-Issa, many Muslim countries” and that “going to Aus- chwitz is, not only for Jews and Christians, always Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2020. also a search for God.”

As Deutsche Welle reported, he is adamant that the lesson of Auschwitz is that something like this “must never again” be allowed to happen — a lesson that “we Muslims” must internalize as well. Then, in a profound move that confirmed the One of us is a Muslim, born and raised in Saudi historic importance of the visit, German Chan- Arabia, a country where Islam is the official cellor , for the first time during her religion and the vast majority of the popula- 14-year tenure as chancellor, paid a visit to the tion shares the same faith. There is no local Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. She was accompa- Jewish community and no direct connection nied by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiec- to World War II. The other is a Jew, born and ki and museum director Mr. Cywinski as well as raised in a secular United States, exposed to leaders of Jewish organizations. few Muslims during his formative years. His life was shaped by the events of World War II and the experiences of his parents, both Holocaust survivors. Yet on Jan. 23, we stood We knew what was coming. together with united resolve in the face of history’s greatest horror, the Holocaust, at the But we still weren’t prepared Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp where more than 1 million Jews perished. Never again. for it.” Not for Jews. Not for Muslims. Not for any of God’s children.”

— Jewish representative with the MWL-AJC delegation to Auschwitz, as quoted by Deutsche Welle, January 24, 2020 We have come together, believing that the world desperately needs greater interfaith un- derstanding and cooperation. The terrible at- tacks on Jews in Pittsburgh, San Diego, Jersey City, New Jersey, Monsey, New York, and Halle, Germany; the genocide against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the massacre of Muslim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand; and the wanton killing of Christians celebrating Easter in Sri Lanka demonstrate the global threat we are all facing.”

A member of the delegation gives remarks at Kabbalat Shabbat Services at the Nożyk Synagogue in Warsaw.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 25

Within our own communities, we both have Seventy-five years later, it would be naive of us been confronting fear, distrust and ignorance to believe we are immune to the possibility of of the other. When we met last April, we recog- another industrialized genocide fueled by ideo- nized the interconnectedness of our missions. logical extremism. Left unchecked, the forces of Our organizations, the Muslim World League evil could threaten any minority and American Jewish Committee, signed an community, anywhere...” agreement to “make the 21st century an era of harmony and friendship” that unites our com- munities against all attempts to divide us by race, faith, nationality or ethnicity. As the last remaining survivors and liberators pass on, we have a shared stake in ensuring Words are important, but insufficient. The ulti- the lessons of Auschwitz do not disappear with mate test is action.” them. To forget would be to invite a new Aus- chwitz. We must not forget. We dare not forget...”

That explains why we co-headed a joint Jew- ish-Muslim delegation to Auschwitz to mark the 75th anniversary of the Nazi German camp’s Together, we saw the shoes, suitcases, eye- liberation. At a site of unconscionable pain, the glasses, prostheses, hair and shaving brushes, images of Jews and Muslims praying in their pots and pans, and other belongings of those own manner and to the same God should give deported to this accursed place, led to believe the world hope that adherents of both faiths are it was for relocation, not annihilation. The stark determined to build a more humane barracks with bare, three-tiered bunk beds, and harmonious tomorrow.” overflowing with skeletal, lice-infested, terrorized women, men and children. The remnants of the gas chambers and crematoria. The execution walls and hanging sites. The train tracks that In Hebrew, we speak of “tikkun olam.” In Arabic, brought people packed in suffocating cattle “islah.” Each demands of us to repair the world cars. And where Nazi doctors performed medi- through and action, among our cal experiments that are an eternal own communities and through partnerships abomination of science. such as ours.” These 1.1 million people murdered in Auschwitz were human beings, each with his or her own story, their world brutally cut short.” Our presence at Auschwitz was as much about the present as the past.”

As Muslim and as Jew, we remember them. And we honor their memories by bearing witness, The Holocaust reminds us of the human capac- linking arms and saying, “Never again.” ity for inhumanity, depravity and bestiality. Two- thirds of European Jewry was destroyed. But the Nazis directed their supremacist ideology at Slavs, Roma, people of color, the handicapped We come from very different backgrounds.” and many others.”

26 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE Before touring the POLIN Museum of the History of the Jews, Dr. Al-Issa is greeted by museum leadership.

THE POLIN MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS

The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews occupies a site in the former Warsaw . As the website of that museum explains, “the Hebrew word Polin in the museum’s English name means either, “Poland,” or “rest here” and relates to a leg- end about the arrival of the first Jews to Poland.”

The museum’s cornerstone was laid in 2007, and the museum opened in 2013. The main exhibition opened in October 2014 and features a multime- dia exhibition about the Jewish community that flourished in Poland for a thousand years up to the World War II Holocaust. The building, a postmod- ern structure in glass, copper, and concrete, was designed by Finnish architects Rainer Mahlamäki and Ilmari Lahdelma The POLIN musuem documents the lives of Polish Jews before the Holocaust.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 27 EUROPE’S UNSUNG MUSLIM HEROES: HONORING THE MUSLIM SOLDIERS OF WORLD WAR I

The biggest surprise was how much respect and loyalty there was between all these people of all faiths in the most gruesome circumstances, the trenches of the World War I.”

— Luc Ferrier, Founder of the Forgotten Heroes 14-19, dedicated to raising awareness of the role of Muslim soldiers on the Alled side in World War I

of the 57th Wilde’s Rifles, who fell during the First Battle of Ypres on October 28, 1914, and Nur Alam of the 40th Pathans, killed on April 26, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres.

The little-known role played by these soldiers and their 2.5 million fellow Muslims who fought for Britain, France and Russia in a war not of their making remains a gaping hole in the recorded history of the war. Luc Ferrier, the Belgian found- er and chairman of the Forgotten Heroes 14-19 Foundation, has plans to address this ignorance. He is certain the Allies would have lost the war without Muslim soldiers and has maintained that “raising public awareness of their contribution could help counter growing anti-Islamic sentiment in Europe” and give immigrant communities a stronger sense of belonging.

Originally, the aim of his foundation was to The Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium discover how Muslims from the former colonies Source: Johan Baker served alongside the Allied forces. “The biggest surprise was how much respect and loyalty there was between all these people of all faiths in the There is a giant gate, the Menin Gate in the Bel- most gruesome circumstances, the trenches of gian town of Ypres, that is said “to echo with the World War I,” he has stated in interviews. Among mournful tune of the ‘Last Post’ played by buglers the personal diaries, his group found numerous from the local fire brigade.” On the walls of the “heart-warming accounts” of Muslim, Christian gate, unveiled in 1927, are the names of 54,607 and Jewish soldiers fighting side-by-side, sharing soldiers who were killed in Belgium and have no their experiences and accommodating each oth- known grave. Among these are 412 soldiers from er’s culture, music, food and religious practices, India, including Muslims such as Bahadur Khan despite the difficult conditions in the trenches.

28 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE This mosque in Bohoniki, Poland is a typical Lipka mosque. Source: Lilly M

THE TATARSKA MOSQUE OF WARSAW AND THE UNUSUAL TATAR-MUSLIM

When Dr. Al-Issa delivered his Friday sermon at ed their culture and fostered in their community the Tatarska Street Mosque on January 24 before the climate of “the Polish Orient.” the MWL and AJC delegations in honor of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, But assimilation comes naturally. Central and he may not have known that he was stepping Eastern European Muslim mosques architectur- into a three-hundred year-old tradition in this very ally tend to look very similar to the local Orthodox Catholic nation. churches, and the roles Muslims have played in Polish society have provided rich intellectual The mosque is one of the oldest in Poland, named resources to the national defense of royal Po- after the first Tatars who arrived in Poland en land. Thanks to linguistic, religious and traditional masse over 300 years ago, settled by the legend- bonds with the Turkish people, the Polish Muslims ary King John III Sobieski and descended from provided invaluable services to their new home- those Tatars who had emigrated from Russia land as envoys, as writers and translators, and through the Baltics. These were the Polish-Lithua- through the Tatars, the Poles obtained information nian Tatars--the “Lipka Tatars”of the Grand Duchy about the politics of the East. Today, many a Pole of Lithuania. Today’s Polish Muslims, descended claims, and with pride, to have “a Tatar ancestor in from these Tatars, remain a small, closely knit one’s family and blood.” group of around 10,000 who have strongly guard-

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 29 HISTORIC POLAND AND ITS MUSLIMS: A brief overview, with excerpts from “mysalaam.com” on Polish-Tatar culture

To acknowledge their brave and loyal contribution, a statue of a mounted Tatar soldier was unveiled at Orunia Park in Gdansk in 2010…”

— mysalaam.com. on Polish-Muslims (Polish-Tatar) history and culture.

MUSLIMS HAVE BEEN IN POLAND MUSLIMS HAVE FOUGHT FOR FOR SEVEN CENTURIES POLAND FOR OVER 600 YEARS

Muslim Tatars first came to Poland from “Ever since the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, the Crimea in the 14th century, when they Polish Muslims have fought in every were invited to help the Polish-Lithuanian major war for Poland. This included alliance fight the Christian Knights of the opposing the Ottomans at the 1683 Teutonic Order. They famously joined Battle of Vienna under Polish King the alliance at the Battle of Grunwald in John III Sobiesk, the Napoleonic Wars 1410 and helped save both nations. As and the Second World War, in which a a reward, they were invited to stay and Polish Tatar Regiment fought against were given land around the borderlands the German Nazis. To acknowledge their of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, where brave and loyal contribution, a statue of many families have resided ever since, a mounted Tatar soldier was unveiled at making them one of Europe’s oldest Orunia Park in Gdansk in 2010.” Muslim communities. POLAND’S MILITARY HAD IMAMS POLAND IS HOME TO EUROPE’S MOST INDIGENOUS MOSQUES Polish-Muslim soldiers were so highly regarded that the Polish Army installed The historic mosques of Poland its very own imams at the start of the are found in two towns close to the 20th century. The imams took Islamised northeastern border. The 18th-century oaths from new Muslim recruits and Bohoniki Mosque and the 19th-century led soldiers in daily prayers. The last of Kruszyniany mosque are often mistaken these Imams, Ali Ismail Woronowicz, for local churches. The only clues that was posthumously awarded the Knight’s these are Muslim places of worship are Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta the crescents on the top. in 2011 after being killed by the Soviet Union in 1941.

30 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE EDITORIAL FEATURE

Dr. Al-Issa was honored in Abu Dhabi, December 9, 2019. Source: Al Khaleej Today Prized Peace and The Triumph of Tolerance:

Texts should be well understood in order to understand their truth and people should not select one paragraph and interpret it as they like. Ideas in religious texts are often explained in other texts.”

— Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, upon receiving the “Peace in Muslim Societies Award” in the UAE, December 9, 2019, Berlin

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 31 In late December at the Sixth Annual Forum for The forum is is in furtherance of a UAE strategy Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, the UAE’s to promote peace and tolerance, and Sheikh Minister of Tolerance, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Abdullah noted that the Marrakesh Declaration Al-Nahyan, presented the Peace in Muslim of 2016 called for “the establishment of a legal Societies Award to Dr. Al-Issa in recognition of document defending the rights of religious minori- the Secretary-General’s outstanding efforts in ties in the Islamic world.” He said, “The promoting the highest values of intellectual integ- Marrakesh Declaration of 2016 is based on the rity and consistent interfaith dialogue around the objectives of the Medinah Document that was world. Dr. Al-Issa praised the organizers’ decision established as the original model of citizenship as to focus on the role of religions in promoting toler- called for by Islamic doctrine, which respects the ance, “thus sending religious leaderships around rights of minorities.” the world an important message to assume their responsibilities and promote values and ethics,” as Arab News reported. Furthermore, Dr. Al-Issa took the occasion to shed light on the issue of misunderstanding religious texts--a matter often It is very positive overlooked or deliberately ignored in many dis- that scholars from cussions--and made a rather pointed statement warning against the all-too-easy “cherry picking” different religions of texts among dishonest scholars to justify their own views. December’s event was the fourth are attending the consecutive year that the MWL Secretary-General has attended the event. forum, as they are the

“Texts should be well understood in order to un- most responsible for derstand their truth, and people should not select one paragraph and interpret it as they like. Ideas instilling peace and in religious texts are often explained in other texts,” tolerance.” said Dr. Al-Issa. He also said that honest discus- sion depends upon honest intellectual values, — Dr. Mohammad Al-Issa, upon which underscores the critical role of scholars for promoting peace and tolerance. accepting the “Peace in Muslim Societies Award” in the UAE, The Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim December 9, 2019 Societies, held December 9-11, included 45 faith leaders and advocates of tolerance, and is under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Na- According to the Forum’s organizer, the New hyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Alliance of Virtue initiative draws direct inspiration Cooperation. This year’s theme was “The Role from the earliest traditions of Islam. The original of Religions in Promoting Tolerance: From Possi- “Alliance of Virtue” (hilf al-fudul) was established bility to Necessity.” Several representatives in the early 7th century at Makkah, in the house of the United Nations, decision-makers and influ- of Abdullah ibn Judan. Its purpose was to defend ential figures from international civil society orga- the weak and the innocent against the rapacious- nizations and non-profits were also in attendance. ness of those more powerful. The conference issued a charter titled “The New Alliance of Virtue,” which was officially described The Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) “a platform for exchanging ideas, highlighting and the first of the “Rightly Guided Caliphs,” common values and reinforcing human fraternity.” Abu Bakr, were both present when the Alliance

32 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE

We need thinkers and leaders to become healers and doctors of modern society by replacing the jurisprudence of hate with the jurisprudence of peace. We need to set and be examples of the truth and uphold the integrity of Muslims and Islam across the world.” — Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, 6th annual Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, December 9-11, 2019 was formed, though it was before Moham- was the central point to be stressed. The mad’s prophethood. He later praised it, saying: forum assembly followed the decision by the “I was present in the house of Ibn Judan when UAE to declare 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, an alliance was formed, and were I to have “with the aim of spreading a culture of toler- been called upon by it in Islam, I would have ance among the nations of the world.” answered its call...” In his speech, Dr. Al-Issa summed up the spirit Last February in Washington, H.E. Sheikh of the forum, stating: “The importance of Abdullah bin Bayyah, then President of the Fo- scholarship in spreading the message of gen- rum for Promoting Peace, led a panel of more uine Islamic and humanitarian values related than 200 individuals from the three Abra- to peace and tolerance cannot be overstated. hamic faiths and others, comprising religious This is our mission.” leaders and senior politicians in creating this modern version of the “Alliance of Virtue” among religions. The Charter, according to the Forum, “follows the model of the original, on a global scale. It brings together those of good-will for the benefit of humanity, an effort across religions to enable its members to live side-by-side in peace and happiness.” Its aim is not to bridge theological differences. Members will instead cooperate based on a common theology of God-given human digni- ty, seeking virtue for the benefit of all.

Sheikh Abduallah emphasized that “reaching an intellectual change of perspective that considers tolerance a mere possibility among The Sixth Assembly of the Forum on Promoting Peace met in Abu Dhabi possibilities under the framework of religion” on December 9, 2019

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 33 HISTORICAL ESSAY

Alhambra, the great fortress of Granada, was ruled by the Muslim Emir of Granad in the high Middle Ages. Source: Jebulon The Interfaith Imperative: Intersection, Interaction and the Unusual Case of Spain.

History is so rich with examples of intellectual cross-fertilization among faiths, cultures and civilizations, particularly Muslims, Chjristians and Jews. Jewish scholars such as Maimonides, one of the most famous philosophers of the Middle Ages, discussed the relationship between Islam and Jewish law, and Maimonides himself, it has been said, was influenced by Islamic legal thought. In another example, one of the most important early Jewish philosophers influenced by Islamic philosophy was Rav Saadia Gaon (892–942), and the first Islamic Waqf (a charita- ble endowment for Muslim religious purposes) was donated by a Jew, Rabbi Mukhayriq.

After 912, during the reign of Abd-ar-Rahman III and his son, Al-Hakam II, the Jews prospered cul- turally, and some notable figures held high posts in the Caliphate of Cordoba. Jewish philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, poets and rabbin-

Maimonides, the influential medieval Sephardic-Jewish ical scholars left behind highly rich cultural and scholar and philosopher, was influenced by great Muslim scientific work. Many devoted themselves to the thinkers in southern Spain. study of the sciences and philosophy, composing Source: Rambam Institute

34 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE many of the most valuable texts of Jewish philos- These administrative necessities aside, from the ophy, and the Jews of the region took part in the second half of the eighth century to the end of overall prosperity of Muslim Al-Andalus. the eleventh century Jewish life flourished while contributing greatly to scholarship. A translating In the following centuries, Jewish thought flour- program was established in Toledo, using Jews ished under famous figures such as Samuel as interpreters. There they translated the Arabic Ha-Nagid, Moses ibn Ezra, Solomon ibn Gabirol books into romance languages, as well as Greek and Judah Halevi, as well as Moses Maimonides. and Hebrew texts into Arabic. This included many During ‘Abd al-Rahman’s reign, the scholar Moses major works of Greek science and philosophy, ben Enoch was appointed rabbi of Córdoba, and and Jews studied and contributed to mathe- as a consequence al-Andalus became the center matics, medicine, botany, geography, poetry, and of Talmudic study and Córdoba the meeting-place philosophy. It was at this time that the study of of Jewish savants. In 1027, a Jewish military medicine expanded to produce a large number of official, Samuel ibn Naghrillah, became the top ad- exceptional Jewish physicians, and all the while visor and military general of the Muslim-controlled Islam held sway over Jewish cultural life as well. Taifa of Granada, an emirate of southern Spain. In literature, and the arts, the Muslim influence on Jewish thought was quite substantial. Though Phoenicians, Greeks, Vandals, Visigoths, Muslims, written in non-Islamic language and script, medie- Jews, and Christians all occupied Spain at one val Hebrew poetry and much of the prose litera- point or another. History records communities of ture belong to the same cultural world as Arabic Jews living on the Iberian Peninsula from as early and other literatures of Islam. as the destruction of the first temple in Jerusa- lem. But it was during the realm of the Moors The Jewish dimension became increasingly in Al-Andalus that the Jews thrived the greatest. important in the Caliphate of Córdoba, the center Although this was a time of artistic, educational, of Islamic cultural life in Al-Andalus, reaching its and cultural enlightenment, it was not complete- peak in the tenth century. Jews lived among ly serene or without persecution for the Jewish themselves in a walled area known as the aljama people. But as historians look back before the first (Jewish quarter). There they enjoyed their own millennium at the Jewish populations of Iberia, we administration, managed their own communal see Jews living in convergence with both Muslims affairs and had their own legal court known as and Christians. the “Beit Din.” This was naturally a very great free- dom for them and also decreased the workload of The occupation of Iberia by the Moors was a the Islamic courts. welcome occurrence for the remaining Jewish population there. The Muslims were not entirely Having invaded the areas throughout southern tolerant, but under the ruling Caliph, the Jews Spain, and coming to rule in a matter of seven were able to preserve their rites and traditions. years, Islamic rulers were confronted with many Peaceful coexistence led to their economic questions relating to the implementation of Islam- and social expansion. Their status was that of ic Rule on a non-Islamic society. The coexistence “dhimmis”--that is, of non-Muslims living in a land of Muslims, Jews, and Christians during this time governed by Muslims. The Jews had limited was celebrated by many writers, and Al-Andalus, autonomy, yet full rights to practice their religion, became the center of Jewish life during the early as well as full protection by their Muslim rulers. Middle Ages, producing important scholars and There was a specific tax called the jizya that dhim- one of the most stable and wealthy Jewish com- mis had to pay to receive these benefits, however. munities of the day. It was a relatively educated This tax, higher than the tax Muslims had to pay, society for the Muslim occupiers and their Jewish was in several occasions one of the most import- collaborators, as well as Christians who openly ant sources of income for the kingdom. collaborated with the Muslims and Jews.

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 35 CULTURAL ESSAY Dialogues of Beauty & The Power of Art:The Barenboim Said Foundation:

The Barenboim-Said Foundation stands as one of the great examples of the power of art over Separation between peoples politics, ideology and racial, religious and ethnic strife. It was established in 2003 by late Palestin- is not a solution for any of the ian intellectual and scholar, , and the renowned Israeli pianist and conductor, Daniel problems that divide peoples. Barenboim. These two founders believed that music profoundly influences human life, they And certainly ignorance of created their foundation to make classical music education accessible to Palestinian children and the other provides no help young adults. Through its activities at their Music Center in Ramallah, the foundation serves Pal- whatever. Cooperation and estinian adolescents regardless of their social or economic background, offering them the highest coexistence of the kind that level of education. music lived as we have lived, It was a chance meeting that brought the two hu- performed, shared and loved manists together in a London hotel lobby in 1992. A friendly exchange about music, literature, so- it together, might be.” ciety and the Middle Eastern conflict grew into a deep personal friendship that lasted until Edward — the late Edward Said, philosopher, Said’s untimely death in 2003. The spirit of this author and Palestinian activist extraordinary relationship was captured in their joint publication Parallels and Paradoxes, a work that details their idea of creating an orchestra in which musicians from Israel, Palestine, the Middle East and North Africa would play together – har- monized in music – and thus create a foundation for mutual understanding. Barenboim spoke of the ensemble as follows:

“The East-West Divan Orchestra is not a love story, and it is not a peace story. It has very flatteringly been described as a project for peace. It isn’t. It’s not going to bring peace, whether you play well or not so well. The Divan was conceived as a project against ignorance. A project against the fact that it is absolutely essential for people to get to know the other, to understand what the other thinks and feels, without necessarily agreeing with it. I’m not trying to convert the Arab members of the Divan to the Israeli point of view, and [I’m] not trying to The Pierre Boulez Saal of the Barenboim-Said Akademie convince the Israelis of the Arab point of view. But Source: Jroepstorff

36 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE I want to – and unfortunately I am alone in this an avid supporter of the idea and a close friend of now that Edward died a few years ago – ...create a Mr. Barenboim’s. platform where the two sides can disagree and not resort to [violence].” The arts have great power to speak to the soul and provide neutral ground for people of differing The orchestra was co-founded in Weimar, Germa- views. This Israeli-Palestinian humanitarian initia- ny, by Said and Barenboim in 1999, and named tive can be a model to all those who still believe after the West–östlicher Divan (West–Eastern Di- that differences, ignorance and historical tensions van), an anthology of poems by Johann Wolfgang may be overcome through civilized cultural values. von Goethe, who took his inspiration from the Persian poet Hafis. The first ensemble workshop took place in 1999, as part of Weimar’s program as the European Capital of Culture that year. Since Edward Said’s death, his widow Mariam C. Said has been a co-leader of the orchestra.

While tensionis and conflict in the Middle East conflict continued, the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra developed into an international success story, with performances from Tokyo to Ramallah, from Berlin to Seville and Abu Dhabi, from New York to Buenos Aires and Rabat. They then set about raising funds for an academy that would offer music students from all over the Middle East training in classical music and philosophy, and other instruction in the arts. The Barenboim–Said The Pierre Boulez Saal of the Barenboim-Said Akademie Academy, the academic setting behind this devo- Source: Jroepstorff tion to art, builds on “the principles and practices laid out in the work of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra” and transfer them into a scholarly setting, drawing upon the philosophical concepts of the two men. Great music is the result of

Barenboim’s vision for classical music, Berlin and concentrated listening – every the Middle East was achieved in December 2016 musician listening intently to the when the Barenboim-Said Academy, named for the maestro and the Palestinian-American intel- voice of the composer and to lectual Edward Said, opened in the historic heart of the German capital. Mr. Barenboim, 74, who is each other. Harmony in personal also the musical director of Berlin’s State Opera, “himself seemed a little stunned by the opening,” or international relations can also as The New York Times reported at the time. The German culture ministry provided two-thirds of only exist by listening, each party the 35 million euro construction costs (about $37 million) for the academy — with the remainder opening its ears to the other’s coming from private sponsors. The building con- tains a brand new concert hall, designed pro bono narrative or point of view.” by Frank Gehry and named after Pierre Boulez, — , pianist and conductor

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 37 CULTURAL ESSAY

Greater Understanding for the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding

The FFEU was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the late Joseph Papp while tensions For my part, as someone who has were increasing between the Jewish and Afri- been involved in Muslim-Jewish can-American communities. For more than two decades, the FFEU was instrumental in repairing relations for more than 15 years this historic alliance. In 2014, as it celebrated its and has come to know Muslims of 25th anniversary, the FFEU was honored by the United States Congress as the national address all ranks of life, I am confident that for Black-Jewish relations. there are many more Mohammed Al- Issas and Asma Shuweikhs out there who will not sit still or look away when Jews are being threatened or attacked. At a difficult moment in history that is some good news that we should never allow ourselves to forget.”

— Rabbi Marc Schneier, Founder and Director, The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

Since 2007, the Foundation for Ethnic Understand- The Muslim World League has formed strong friendships with ing, led by Rabbi Marc Schneier and the entre- Jewish community leaders aroudn the world, leading by example in building bridges through dialogue. preneur Russell Simmons, has made improving Muslim-Jewish Relations their main focus. They have hosted the National Summit of Imams and Rabbis in 2007, the Gathering of Muslim and Jewish Leaders in Brussels in 2010 and in Par- There is a false narrative out there is in 2012, and since then regular Missions of Muslim and Jewish Leaders to Washington D.C. that Muslims are inveterately In addition, each November the Foundation hosts hostile to Jews. In fact, Muslims the “Weekend of Twinning,” which encourages Muslims and Jews, Imams and Rabbis, Mosques are speaking out – and acting out and synagogues, and Muslim and Jewish orga- – every day in defense of Jews who nizations to hold joint programming inspired by the commonalities between Muslims and Jews. are under attack” It is one of the most high-profile interfaith, Mus- lim-Jewish dialogue forums in the world. — Rabbi Marc Schneier

38 MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE Rabbi Marc Schneier: “Muslims Stood Up Repeatedly for Jews in 2019” – The Jerusalem Post, December 23, 2019. (Excerpts)

“The proliferation of antisemitic attacks this year in the to the Jewish community. Jim Sues, executive director of United States and globally shook the global Jewish com- the New Jersey Chapter of the Council on American-Mus- munity to its core – the attack on the Chabad of Poway lim Relations said, “We stand in solidarity with our Jewish Synagogue, a synagogue in Halle, Germany, the kosher sisters and brothers and ask people of all faiths and back- supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey, this month, and grounds to repudiate the hatred that apparently motivated unfortunately, the list goes on and on. However, amid this heinous attack.” our grief, fear and anger at these escalating attacks, and at increased demonization of Israel from the likes of the “Jews in Minnesota, and across America, were deeply hurt Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, it and alarmed by comments by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Min- is important for Jews to realize that we are not alone but nesota), who suggested that US support for Israel is “all have allies in the Muslim community. about the Benjamins,” and that Jewish supporters of Isra- el are more loyal to that state than to the US. While Omar’s “There is a false narrative out there that Muslims are invet- ugly comments were deeply disturbing, it is important to erately hostile to Jews. In fact, Muslims are speaking out note that many American Muslims denounced them. – and acting out – every day in defense of Jews who are under attack. Consider the following inspiring examples of “In November, public figures from 15 Arab countries met Muslims standing up for Jews during the past year: in London and denounced the BDS movement against Israel and called for direct person-to-person contacts “On Holocaust Remembrance Day in January, Moham- between Israelis and citizens of their respective societies. mad Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World This group, the Arab Council for Regional Integration, League, backed by the government of called for mending relations with Israel not only as path to and based in holy city of , wrote an op-ed in The peace, but a way to mend relations with Israel and also to Washington Post titled “Why Muslims From Around the heal some of the greatest internal problems in their own World should Remember the Holocaust.” Taking vigorous countries. issue with those in the Muslim world who have trafficked in Holocaust denial, Al-Issa wrote, “The lessons of Holo- “It wasn’t only prominent Muslim clerics and political caust are universal and Muslims around the world have leaders who drew worldwide attention by defending a responsibility to learn them, heed the warnings and join beleaguered Jews. Last month, a Muslim woman named the international commitment to ensure ‘never again.’” Asma Shuweikh noticed a man spouting antisemitic vitriol at a Jewish family on the London Underground. As seen “In October, Al-Issa took another groundbreaking stand by in a video that went viral on YouTube, the deranged man is issuing a strong condemnation of an antisemitic incident seen haranguing the Jewish children about “synagogues in Australia in which a Jewish boy was bullied into kissing of Satan,” until Shuweikh steps in tells him to cut out his the shoes of a Muslim boy. He shared, “This shameful harassment. The man turns threateningly on her, but she behavior is contrary to the doctrine of Islam and they stands her ground. are barbaric acts…. Examples from the Holy Scriptures abound of the importance of respecting Jews. The Proph- “For my part, as someone who has been involved in et, peace be upon him, stood solemnly at the funeral of a Muslim-Jewish relations for more than 15 years and has Jew.” come to know Muslims of all ranks of life, I am confident that there are many more Mohammed Al-Issas and Asma “In the wake of the Poway, Halle and Jersey City attacks Shuweikhs out there who will not sit still or look away on Jews, leaders of local and national Muslim organiza- when Jews are being threatened or attacked. At a diffi- tions spoke out at news conferences condemning the cult moment in history that is some good news that we attacks in uncategorical terms and offered emotional should never allow ourselves to forget. succor and financial support to families of the victims and

MAKING HISTORY, MAKING PEACE: THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE IN EUROPE 39